Something as simple as this makes life a little more enjoyable.

This is not completely new. Many years ago I heard the hype from friends about this mind-blowing installation (some call it motion sculpture) piece showing at SIGGRAPH 2001, made from a material called Ferrofluid, a type of magnetic liquid that can morph from fluid to solid via magnetic fields.

I have never seen it in action until catching the interview with the artist Sachiko Kodama a few days ago. “Morpho Towers” is one of her latest projects. It is simply beautiful.

Link: Sachiko Kodama’s Website

Link: More Projects from Sachiko Kodama (Japanese)

It’s been almost 10 years since my last visit to Kyoto and the impression was so strong that I can recall almost every single corner I have been, the home-like atmosphere and the warm conversations I had with the grandma who prepares breakfast every morning during our stay, in her own, family-run Ryokan.

On the day we were leaving, she sent us to the front door and half-jokingly asked me and my girlfriend to bring a kid the next time we visit. Years have passed, now living in the opposite side of the world as a father and husband, this place is always the first thing that comes to my mind thinking of Kyoto, even when I am playing around with Google Maps Japan that just went live earlier this week.

No, this is not a cliché story. It looks just like this picture when we said goodbye.

Link: Japanese Guest Houses - Heianbo

Walking Tour #1: The Philosopher’s Walk (Tetsugaku No Michi)
Walking Tour #2: Around Kiyomizu-dera

Images from Eselkunst’s Flickr page

Amazingly crafted insect sculptures made from everyday objects. A step by step demonstration of how it’s been made can be found on the artist’s Flickr page. The choices of colors and shapes are truly inspiring.

Link: Bug sculptures made from found objects

Link: More bugs on Eselkunst’s Flickr page

An unexpected consequence of the 2008 Beijing Olympics that solves my dilemma in translating Chinese (food) menu items to friends. The list is 170 pages long according to the NYT (Update: 2425 items).

This month, the Chinese government has officially released its very long list of suggested translations for Chinese dishes in preparation for a tourist-friendly Olympics. … The master list is incredibly helpful because, as it was built through consensus over many drafts, it conveys the optimal translations to bridge the gap between American and Chinese culinary sensibilities. This list will be useful not just in China, but for Chinese restaurants here in America for years to come.

Having read a few pages, I’d say these translations are pretty accurate and descriptive. Here are a few examples showing why the existence of an official list is such a wonderful thing:

Husband and wife lung slices: Pork Lungs in Chili Sauce (夫妻肺片)
Chicken without a sexual life: Steamed Spring Chicken (清蒸童子鸡)
Ants climb up a tree: Sautéed Vermicelli with Spicy Minced Pork (蚂蚁上树)
Braised lion’s head: Stewed Pork Ball in Brown Sauce (红烧狮子头)
Saliva chicken: Steamed Chicken with Chili Sauce (口水鸡)

Link: Chinese Food Translations: Sweet, Sour and Downright Odd

Related Article: Suggested translations for Chinese dishes

It was two years ago when I first saw this fantastic photo series through a random surf. I had never thought that it would become a project that lasts this long and being put into a book. “Little People in the City” will be out on Sept. 5th, available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk.

-Images from little-people.blogspot.com

Link: Little People - A Tiny Street Art Project

Related Article: Slinkachu on Fused Magazine

Cuil.com was a hot topic yesterday.

Follow up to my earlier post on search engines, I am not sure if I can describe this as “diversity of the Web” … well, it is surely entertaining.

Eric Schmidt

Larry Page

Ghandi

Paul Graham

Link: The World According to Cuil

Related Article: Try Yuil

“The Dancing Girl of Izu (伊豆の踊子)”, originally published in 1926 by Yasunari Kawabata (川端 康成 - The first Japanese to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature), was repackaged in the style of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険) and sold at 7-Eleven outlets to attract young readers in Japan.

I was fascinated by this cover art (right). The interpretation is almost “an exact opposite image of the book’s content (from 2-channel)”!

Link: Novels under manga cover: Convenience stores go literary

A short animation for BBC Sport’s Olympics marketing campaign. By Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the duo who brought you the Gorillaz.

Link: YouTube BBC’s Channel